Shows Opening

“You’re entering another dimension…a dimension of sound, a dimension of signs, a dimension of mind.”

Yes, it is happening, the show we have all been waiting for since last December, Theater Schmeater’s annual live re-enactment of episodes from Rod Serling’s seminal sci-fi TV anthology series, The Twilight Zone. Directed by Rachel Delmar, the four episodes this year will be: To Serve Man, Deaths-Head Revisited, The Shelter and The Changing of the Guard.

Shows Running

On one surface, Framed investigates questions about art: What is art? What is talent? What do you see in a painting? Who makes a work valuable? On another surface this show is about spoiled, foiled, and soiled relationships.
Soon enough, we learn what each desires. Joanie wants her art to be respected and sold in legitimate galleries though she is more poseur than artist; May has natural talent and takes art lessons from Joanie to learn how to draw a particular face; Jake wants to work for Nick; and Nick wants to keep his wife happy, stay married, and a make money booking illegal bets.
In sound human relationships we desire ethics, truthfulness, and honesty. These characters don’t have these virtues so there’s double-crossing, lying, and deceit. What fun!

I am irredeemably torn after watching Village Theatre’s new production of Matilda, based on a novel by Roald Dahl. I have not read the book, but Dahl is noted for coherent stories that grip the imaginations of children and adults alike. This particular story concerns 5-year-old (roughly) Matilda Wormwood, whose parents torment her despite her […]

The White Snake, React Theatre’s superb production of Mary Zimmerman’s play of the same name, now playing at 12th Ave Arts, was 95 minutes of sheer aesthetic beauty involving exquisite original music, incredibly creative visual effects, excellent acting and a truly amazing script. It was delightful in its simplicity and simply delightful.

One of the four great Chinese folktales, the tale of The White Snake has evolved over the years from a horror story to a romance. It has been performed as an opera in China, musical theatre in Hong Kong, and a dance piece in Taiwan. Zimmerman’s English version premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2012. React’s production is the first all Asian Cast in the U.S. And what a cast it was!!!

You would sleep with a Nazi?????????
Well, you sleep with a Trostkyite!

The above quote sums up a lot about the multi-leveled conflicts, presented in A Bright Room Called Day, by Tony Kushner, produced by The Williams Project at The Hillman City Collaboratory on Rainier Ave, in South Seattle near Columbia City. Since Drama in the Hood’s mission has always been to review the shows in the neighborhoods, I was delighted to see this show in a place, south of the I-90 bridge, in a space which serves the community as a sort of “multi-purpose” room, at a cost anybody can afford. ( Pay What You Can)

Seattle Shakespeare’s second production of the year, Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man, is a charming success. The production is directed by David Armstrong at the intimate Center Theater, which was was packed-full, of both bodies and laughs, this Saturday. While very much a play of its time, the story of Raina Petcoff (Brenda […]